NBA Finals Game 2: Four Takeaways
By Ian Levy
The Golden State Warriors routed the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, leaving Cleveland searching for answers.
We knew the Golden State Warriors were likely the better team in this NBA Finals matchup — FiveThirtyEight gave them a 75 percent chance of winning the series before it began, and most other projection systems had them as similarly heavy favorites. However, the gap between the Warriors and Cavaliers has looked much wider than that so far.
Cleveland’s offense has completely crumbled and everyone on the roster (save Richard Jefferson) looks enfeebled by Golden State’s execution and energy. The Warriors have outscored the Cavaliers by a total of 48 points through the first two games and have barely needed Stephen Curry of Klay Thompson to get there. Draymond Green and Golden State’s bench have largely been responsible for thrashing the best team in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavaliers now head home to prepare for Games 3 and 4. They may be without Kevin Love, who left Game 2 with a concussion, and have a mountain of problems to solve on offense and defense. After getting embarrassed, twice, on the NBA’s biggest stage, the Cavaliers have their work cut out for them.
Here are four key storylines from Game 2, things for the Warriors to celebrate and the Cavaliers to worry about.
Next: 4. Concussions are fuzzy